Steve Cote to represent Tri-Area at Alberta’s Dart Masters Tournament

Steve Cote is ready to fight for the title of Alberta Dart Masters Champion at the first ever Alberta Masters Games.

The Alberta Masters Games brings athletes between the ages of 30-54 together to compete in hockey, cycling, darts, soccer, archery, kayaking, slo-pitch baseball, pickleball and many other events. The games take place over the weekend in Rocky Mountain House.

Cote will be competing against 24 other male players who qualified for the tournament throughout Alberta. As a member of Zone 5, Cote qualified in Whitecourt after a long day of competing in a round robin single knock-out tournament.

“I finished first that day, but all of the four qualifying players from Zone 5 have talent,” said Cote.

Darts are something that Cote has always enjoyed, he liked watching them on television, and he has always been good at pub style games, especially the ones that require hand eye coordination.

“I had some natural talent when I started,” said Cote.

Darts Alberta released an official statement that said the inclusion of darts in the Alberta Masters Games is exciting for the sport. Darts are included in the 55+ Alberta Games, but they have not been included in the Alberta Summer, Winter, or even the Canada games. This gives an opportunity for players age 30-54 a chance to compete for title of Alberta Master’s Champion.

Cote is relatively new to competitive darts but said when he plays his best game he can be tough to beat. Over the last couple years and several tournaments, he said his nerves have gotten better when he’s under pressure, which was a weakness he had to train out.

“I’m very competitive, so I have my sights on winning it all. I know I’m going to have a blast playing against the best players in Alberta,” said Cote.

Each day of the tournament the masters game will consist of round robin tournament play to a double knockout draw. The champion will be the person with the most points earned from the round robin tournaments over the course of two days.

All events are games of 501, straight in, double out. The games will follow the National Darts Federation official rules of play and include the NDFC tie-breaker rules for all ties. This will affect placement positions for advancement to the knock-out round.

The tournament will take place this weekend in Rocky Mountain House at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 8.